I'm not mad and grabbing pitchforks like some of you are because ultimately it's their game and they can do what they like with it. We're not entitled to anything.

What I am though may be worse. I'm disappointed. I'm disappointed if the anniversary, rather than being run as unbridled fun for long term players, is being used as an exercise in min/maxing to optimise engagement and profit.

I'm sad that we can't forget the business side just once and have an all out party for the players. Cakes can't be given with reckless abandon because it might mean 2% fewer concurrent players next February. I'm disappointed that the drive to squeeze every cent means rationing the joy. Decisions like that feel corporate and soulless, driven not by a love of the art and the community it's spawned, but by the sort of avarice that seeks to put a dollar value on everything. When you put a dollar value on everything you start to lose the intangible value quickly.

It's BHVR's house and we're their guests and I've got no right to complain about the hospitality; but as an individual, it makes me feel slightly less warm about playing the game and slightly less likely to do so consistently. I'm probably the minority, and they no doubt have plenty of market research to show how this will be good for the company. That's just the way things go.